Goldberg Variations

No, this post has nothing to do with Bach. Though the subject is on the same creative level as composing music. In the book, Writing Down the Bones, Zen Master writer, Natalie Goldberg, walks both amateur and aged writer through the process of...well, writing down the bones. Which is to say, putting every inch of ones' self into writing.

In the second part of this book, many things stuck out to me. One of which being the section on Obsessions. I can relate completely with being obsessed with writing. There was a solid three months last year when every day a friend and I would go back and forth, writing a story. We would post a response to the previous chapter and just build and build. I usually replied in the morning and she replied at night. I wouldn't be able to sleep until she wrote back. After reading her chapter, I would lay in bed, planning the chapter that I would write in the morning with anticipation. My heart would beat and sometimes I wouldn't be able to fall asleep unless I wrote down some nice sentences I had thought out, in fear of forgetting them overnight. If, for some reason, I wasn't able to write out my chapter in the morning, I would pine all day until I was able to get home and get the story out of my head and into word. I was obsessed. Going back and re-reading the pages of intricate little plots and funny one-liners made me fill accomplished and proud. I felt like I was doing what I was meant to do. I understand what Goldberg meant when she wrote, "There is freedom in being a writer and writing. It is fulfilling your function." pg. 70

On page 81, Goldberg quotes Katagiri Roshi. "Literature will tell you what life is, but it won't tell you how to get out of it." I really like this quote. It is enveloped nicely between paragraphs stating the importance of detail. As writers what we reveal truths about the world using detailed accuracy. We are like a mirror. But when a person looks into a mirror and sees something, the mirror can do nothing to change the appearance of the person that looks into it. If he or she does not like what they are seeing, then they have to actively change it by stepping away from the mirror and acting. If hair is messy, it can be easily brushed. Things like being overweight is slightly harder and takes time and effort to change. In the same way, reading can tell us truths about the world, things that we don't like, but it is up to us to take action. The reader can learn from books, but we must act upon it if we truly want to learn.

Other things Goldberg taught me:
~Writing is listening
~Learn specific names of flowers, animals, and basically everything (even that rock!)
~Everything is both ordinary and extraordinary
 ~Indefinite modifiers= a big no-no. Points to doubt in writing.
~"And what great writers actually pass on is not so much their words, but they hand on their breath at their moments of inspiration."
~I want to do a snake dance!
~Show, Don't Tell
~It's okay to be weird

In conclusion, here's a clip from Silence of the Lambs that features The Goldberg Variations.